Vuelta a España Vuelta 2026 route rumours

[ice&fire]

According to the recently announced UCI calendar for 2026, the Vuelta will finish on Sep 13th. That's the date of the F1 return to Madrid, so it's as good as it gets for Guillén to hype a possible Vuelta finish at the Canary Islands

La Vuelta 2026 acabará el 13 septiembre, día de la F1 en Madrid: Canarias entra en escena

La UCI anuncia el calendario para el 2026 y La Vuelta será del 22 agosto al 13 de septiembre, día este último de F1 en Madrid. Todo listo para Canarias.

as.com

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Seems like a decent move to bet on the race finishing with another TT into Santiago de Compostela, then.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

The Canaries rumours might be a little more serious this time.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1960416457973743911

 

[Red Rick]

Everyone: "OMG CANARY ISLAND FINISH"

Red Rick: *crying salty tears about no La Palma stage*

 

[RedheadDane]

Everyone: "OMG CANARY ISLAND FINISH"

Red Rick: *crying salty tears about no La Palma stage*

RedheadDane: But, we just got started with the 2025 Vuelta, why are we talking about the 2026 Vuelta now? Actually... why were we talking about it before the 2025 Tour de France even started?

 

[YavorD]

RedheadDane: But, we just got started with the 2025 Vuelta, why are we talking about the 2026 Vuelta now? Actually... why were we talking about it before the 2025 Tour de France even started?

YavorD: Because people love sharing there dreams about possible routes. And discuss routes in general.
And since 2025 Tour and Vuelta routes were largely disappointing, there's nothing better to talk about than future routes.
In this example - Vuelta 2026.

Oh, of course, we could discuss how nice Giro 2015 route was, but that would be even stranger to you, wouldn't it?

 

[RedheadDane]

YavorD: Because people love sharing there dreams about possible routes. And discuss routes in general.
And since 2025 Tour and Vuelta routes were largely disappointing, there's nothing better to talk about than future routes.
In this example - Vuelta 2026.

Well, thing is people get all worked up about routes, and then when organisers are forced to make minor changes act as if it's the end of the world, rather than just enjoying the races as they are happening.

 

[Netserk]

Well, thing is people get all worked up about routes, and then when organisers are forced to make minor changes act as if it's the end of the world, rather than just enjoying the races as they are happening.

Do you have a good example that springs to mind?

 

[RedheadDane]

Do you have a good example that springs to mind?

Some people still going on about a climb being removed from the 2011 Giro.

 

[Netserk]

Some people still going on about a climb being removed from the 2011 Giro.

Yeah, I thought you meant something like that when you said minor change.

 

[RedheadDane]

Yeah, I thought you meant something like that when you said minor change.

Cool! We agree.

 

[YavorD]

Well, thing is people get all worked up about routes, and then when organisers are forced to make minor changes act as if it's the end of the world, rather than just enjoying the races as they are happening.

Well, for some people the route is massively important to enjoy races "as they are happening".
You may enjoy sprint stages, just because it's racing, I hardly watch them. For me, and obviously some other people, having a decent route is a big factor to consider if we watch and how long we are actually watching.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I think we should force RhD to climb Monte Crostis and see if she still thinks it's a minor thing.

 

[RedheadDane]

I think we should force RhD to climb Monte Crostis and see if she still thinks it's a minor thing.

The mountain isn't minor.
The removal of it - from the route* - was.

In other words; if it had never been part of the route, there would never have been an issue. Just pretend that was the case; that Crostis was never supposed to feature in the 2011 Giro.




*Literally removing Monte Crostis would have been very major! Also... WTF!?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The mountain isn't minor.
The removal of it - from the route* - was.

In other words; if it had never been part of the route, there would never have been an issue. Just pretend that was the case; that Crostis was never supposed to feature in the 2011 Giro.




*Literally removing Monte Crostis would have been very major! Also... WTF!?

While we're playing pretend, we could also pretend that nobody ever complained about Monte Crostis being removed from the 2011 Giro.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

RedheadDane: But, we just got started with the 2025 Vuelta, why are we talking about the 2026 Vuelta now?

It almost feels like people are able to think about several different things in the same day

 

[RedheadDane]

It almost feels like people are able to think about several different things in the same day

So am I!
I'm thinking about the Vuelta - this year's edition - Geraardsbergen - the race - Poitou, the L'Avenirs...

 

[Rob5091]

Nah, true cycling aficionados are already complaining about the 2027 Vuelta parcours - it's terrible and it's only worthy of "Nul points"!

 

[Mayomaniac]

Gran Canaria? El Assrador or bust!

 

[Valv.Piti]

Monte Crostis, maybe the hardest climb in cycling... minor change!

 

[YavorD]

Monte Crostis, maybe the hardest climb in cycling... minor change!

Pretend you've never heard of it and it's all good.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Pretend you've never heard of it and it's all good.

14,5 km at 10%, screw that

 

[YavorD]

14,5 km at 10%, screw that

"But it's a minor change"

 

[RedheadDane]

Okay, let me explain why I don't see the point in getting all worked up about the route of a race ahead of time.

The route is just not a very good indicator of whether a race will be interesting!
Sometimes a stage that on paper looks like it'll be just a sprint explodes into completely echelonic mayhem.
Other times the stage was supposed to be the main event of a stage race turns out to be rather... meh!

So, the way I see it, I'd much rather just watch a flat sprint, with the possibility that it might turn interesting, than deliberately skip it, only to find afterwards that it absolutely exploded in the crosswinds (and unlike some of you guys, I can't pretend that watching a replay is "just the same" as actually watching).
Of course, sometimes you have things you need to do that prevents you from watching - but that would probably be true regardless of how interesting the race appears to be - like for example if you have to act like a clown at a kid's birthday party, like @Samu Cuenca during the World Championships last year.

 

[Red Rick]

Monte Crostis, maybe the hardest climb in cycling... minor change!

It wasn't even the hardest climb on the stage it was in though